Gallimimi toe count in JP:The Answer!

[Stephen Okay <sokay@snm.com>]

Okay, I've been lurking here for about a month or two. Dan Lipkowitz' 
comment about "My kingdom for a laserdisc player" WRT Gallimimus toes in JP
was too hard to resist though. 

I got out my discs and decided to have a look and from what I can tell,
the winner is.............:3 toes! They have three toes in the Gallimimus 
stampede scene. 

Reference:Jurassic Park Laserdisc CAV Boxed Set, Side 4, Chapter 36, 
"Galloping Gallimimus", Frames 22610-25261. Evidence frames at 
23919,23920,23933,23938,24001,24050,24087 and 24189. 
Frames 23933 23938,24001 and 24050 are especially clear on this point.

It is very hard to make out though as many of the frames have the feet 
obscured or non-existent due to CGI-induced motion blur(Lets hear it for 
Pixar and ILM! :) ) I can see why many people who only have a VCR would 
think that they have two toes, esp. when you consider that SMPTE framing 
for VHS may differ from laserdisc in terms of the length of a frame in 
seconds which in this kind of scene can make all the difference. 


As a side note, I'd like to throw in my vote for Dinos To Appear In the 
Next JP Film and nominate the Ankylosauridae. Euoplocephalus or 
Edmontosaurus vs. any of the carnivores would make for some excellent 
action scenes IMHO (esp. when it comes out on LD 10-14 months later ;) )

We now return you to our regular quibbling on cladistics and 
impact theories :).

---Steve